The Kansas City Chiefs having a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft is not something that has happened much in recent memory.
Yet, the Chiefs have the No. 9 overall pick this time after missing the playoffs and putting together the first losing season since Andy Reid became the head coach.
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The Chiefs have another first-round pick toward the end of Day 1 after they landed a selection from the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for cornerback Trent McDuffie.
NFL.com experts named some teams that need to nail the 2026 NFL Draft, and Chad Reuter picked the Chiefs for his selection.
“General manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid are not accustomed to making picks early in each round. The first losing season in the Reid era does, however, give the franchise a golden opportunity to bring in top prospects on offense and defense to make sure last season was a blip on the radar — not the beginning of the end of the dynasty,” Reuter wrote.
There is a bittersweet side to the coin for Kansas City.
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For starters, they have a high pick because they missed the playoffs and went just 6-11 in 2025.
On the other hand, Patrick Mahomes is recovering well from a torn ACL, Travis Kelce is back for at least one more season, and Eric Bieniemy returned as the team’s offensive coordinator.
The Chiefs then signed Kenneth Walker III in free agency to address their running back need.
Moreover, the Chiefs did lose a lot of players in free agency, with the defense being hit hard wth Leo Chenal, Jaylen Watson and Bryan Cook all leaving, and McDuffie going to LA in a trade.
The positive is that the Chiefs have two picks on Day 1, and they can land a premier talent with the No. 9 selection, assuming they don’t trade it away in a deal before then.
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Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love was commonly linked as a choice there, but not anymore with Walker in town. The Chiefs could also address the WR need, with names such as Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson as options, but they could also land a star defensive playmaker at No. 9, so there are several directions they could go with that selection.
In a perfect world, the Chiefs add a playmaker to each side of the ball with their first-round selections, and then address other needs with the rest of their draft picks.
Nonetheless, the pressure is on in the front office for Kansas City going into the draft.